Eternal Darkness
by icedragongurl
Summary: Toph contemplates her blindness and gets comfort from the most unlikely source. Sokka/Toph Tokka?


Eternal Darkness

Icedragongurl

Toph/Sokka

PG

I don't own avatar!

A lone figure stands upon a cliff over looking a powerful sea, each wave crashing against the rocks, as though it was trying to show its superiority. The girl stares out into the night, at first one would thing that she was admiring the clear starry skies, but that wasn't the case. Her companions below are silent and fast asleep, only sound is that of snores from one of the boys. Milky Grayish green eyes look out yet go unseeing, only sounds reach through to her world. As strong as she may portray herself to be, she is still human, she stills feels a strong pain within... a yearning to know, for once in her short life... what something looks like. Sure, she may be the strongest earthbender known on their world... but that meant nothing in the long run. Eventually she would pass on and someone else would take her place in the grand scheme of things, that's just how things are. What would it have mattered if she wanted to trade her bending for her sight, not like such a thing was possible, but a girl could dream?

She was never going to know what her face looked like, what her friends looked like, let alone whatever child she may end up having. Where is the beauty in sharing life with a person you love, if you can't see the gem you've created? Besides, what guy in his right mind would have any interest in her? She was gruff and tomboy like, she had no interest in making herself pretty if she didn't know what it looked like. It was her mask of protection against the onslaught of spiritual pain; it was her way of telling others that she didn't give a damn about her looks. Which was a big lie, she did care, she wanted to be able to see her hair color, know it was like to look in a mirror and see her eyes staring back. She always held herself a certain way so that her friends never saw her fears, doubts, and most of all sadness. It was one thing that made her happy about being blind; no one could see her own emotions. Her empty eyes was what helped her in the long run, because people pitied her in battle and that gave her an advantage, after all... who would dare hurt a blind girl?

Rustling could be heard as one of her companions awoke and instantly noticed her absence. She knew who it was, and it was the last person she wanted around during her little self-pity party. She tried to rise up her strong emotional walls before the person arrived and caught at her at her most vulnerable. Unfortunately she didn't have enough time, as a familiar voice cut through the silence "Toph. What are you doing up here? It's not safe." He said with a worried tone of voice, she wanted to bend a wall of earth between the two of them but she stifled the urge as quickly as it had arrived. "I'm fine! Go back to sleep Sokka." She snapped angrily, so much for rising up her emotional barriers… they were as flimsy as tissue paper. Toph could sense his unease, he didn't back off, after all this was Sokka… the EPITOME of stubbornness. Hell, he was the freaking DEFINITION of the word!

The water native reached out for her shoulder but she pulled away roughly, "Don't touch me!" she shouted at him before moving away from him. Sokka was silent but resilient, after a moment he spoke again "What's wrong? Why're so mad at me?" Toph huffed and turned her head away, "I'm not mad." She said with aggravation punctuating each word. She knew that he wasn't going to take such a blatant lie for an answer. The tension in her shoulders was so obvious that even an idiot like Twinkle Toes would have noticed it, had he been awake. "Yeah, you DIDN'T just snarl at me like a Polar Wolf when you pet them the wrong way." The sarcasm flowed from him; she was shivering as particularly strong wave sent a mist of water to hit her body, her ears picked up a soft swear as he draped a blanket he had apparently wrapped around himself to fight the cold. "If you catch the flu then how the hell are you suppose to help Aang?" For some reason the weight of his hand on her shoulder was comforting, she let out a shaky sigh and closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again, there was no difference whatsoever, everything was still an eternal black.

"What does it look like?" she finally asked, and for a moment all she could hear was his breathing until finally he answered "Well… It's beautiful, the sky is a dark blue and looks like silk laid out with small diamonds strewn across it. The ocean is never ending black, the waves are rolling on and the moon is full and is so large it's like you could pluck it from thin air and put it in your pocket." Toph smiled softly "If you said something like that then maybe they wouldn't have tossed you out of the haiku class in Ba Sing Se." Sokka chuckled quietly before draping a friendly arm around her shoulder. Toph realized that this was probably the closest he ever was to her, she usually beat people up when they tried to touch her but Sokka was different. He genuinely cared about his friends, her smile turned down a bit, if only he cared about her even more then friends, but he was a strong healthy boy and she was a blind girl that would be nothing without her earthbending skills. He saw her smile fade into a frown, and felt the slouch in her shoulders "What's wrong?" Sokka asked worriedly "It's nothing" she brushed away his concern and brought back up her walls.

As if he had sensed the emotional structure rising back up, he gave an awkward hug and then a silly Sokka smile "Come on, tell me what's wrong, or I'll bother you about it until you're tempted to bash my brains in." Toph laughed at him and when she stopped laughing she gave him an awkward smile "I'm already tempted to bash your brains in." he grinned "Exactly. Only it'll be ten times worse." She let out a groan of pain and horror at the thought. Sokka gave a soft chuckle before they both went quiet, and for a second he thought that she wasn't going to tell him what was bothering her. Finally she broke the silence "Sokka…" her voice sounded hesitant, he didn't say anything in fear that she would react negatively. She continued "What do I look like?" that wasn't what he had been expecting, but he could hear the sadness and longing behind the question. "Well…You hair is very moody at times, in the sunlight it's black, but by the campfire it's a dark brown." She felt his fingers play with a loose strand of her hair unconsciously. "Your eyes are also having a mind of their own; at times they can be gray, other times pale green that reminds me of polished jade marble, then some times like right now they look like a perfect blend of both colors, making a color that doesn't even have a name." She tried to imagine them in her mind as his kind yet strong voice went on. "Your skin is a peach tone that seems to tan rather then burn. Unlike Aang who seems to only get sunburned rather then tan. You look great in any color outfit really and you weren't made to wear shoes, you look better without them." She didn't realize that sincere smile on her face, "You seem to notice a lot about me." For a moment she didn't notice both of his arms wrap around from behind her, only when she felt his warm breath against her cheek did she realize.

A fierce blush took a hold of her features, "Well, you're a hard person not to notice Toph." He said with a happy tone to his voice. "You're one of a kind and very unique. There's no one else out there like you." Then he pulled away and for a second she thought he had left her alone again. Until she felt the warm brush of lips against her forehead, then they moved to her eyelids, and then hesitantly as if unsure a brush on the lips almost like the tickle of a butterfly. Unknowingly she leaned in against him, her mind was still reeling at the fact that Sokka of people, the guy she had a crush on, the silly goof, liked her. After a moment they separated and she didn't need to see to know that he was smiling contently. He kissed her forehead one last time before giving a small tug on the hand and led her back to the camp so he could make sure she got to bed safely. She felt a warmth growing within her as she realized that being blind wasn't so bad, so long as you know that you're loved…

OWARI!


End file.
